Get a Taste of the Age of Conversation: From A to D

I was planning to write a review of the just-released Age of Conversation e-book, trying to extract the main points of emphasis, and the major themes running throughout the entries of 100+ authors.

Then I thought…who needs to hear my thoughts? Just give a taste of what each author has written, and the case will be far more compelling for people to buy the book.

Then I started attempting it. Hey, that’s too much work for one post! So here’s a sampling from the start of the alphabet (A-D), and then I’ll work my way through to the end over the coming week or so.

So what is the “value proposition” of the Age of Conversation book? Take a taste. Then go buy it!

Roger Anderson
KEEPING THE MESSAGE CONSISTENT – “Rewards can be offered and contests held, but people will never listen as intently as they do when they can feel the passion you have for your message.”

G.Kofi Annan
FROM AID TO OPPORTUNITY – “…in this age where mobile technology and the Internet easily connect individuals from remote corners of the world, the voices of Africans have created a new image, exposed a new market, and changed the conversations about Africa and what can be referred to as Afri-activism— strategies where a person, group, or company engages Africa through aid and charity.”

Todd Andrlik
SCORING A TOP BLOG – “While it will likely take several months before you start gaining momentum and earning top notches, there are two immediate areas — content and creativity — that deserve immediate attention to help you demonstrate leadership, build a devoted audience and eventually achieve high rankings.”

David Armano
THE RELATIONSHIP RENAISSANCE – “But are we also seeing another Renaissance unfold before our very eyes? A Renaissance built off of us discovering each other? A Renaissance composed of a human Web woven through shared knowledge, interests, creativity, and, yes, conversation?”

Steve Bannister
HOW TO BE HAPPY – “…once our basic needs are met, the following question remains: how do we attain this elusive state called happiness?”

Ryan Barrett
FACE-TO-AVATAR – “The enthusiast compulsively crafts intoxicating content while his admirer, forever connected from either the other side of the Atlantic or the espresso machine, posts a comment. However, as passion and fascination
lures more of us into the virtual world, we are losing the willpower to look up and unplug.”

Cam Beck
GETTING PAST THE CONVERSATION BOTTLENECK – “With our heads buried in the familiar, we forget to look up and notice everybody is saying the same thing. A vibrant community demands we force ourselves to stir the pot, even if it makes us uncomfortable.”

Jordon Behan
USING THE TOOLS OF THE WEB TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS ONLINE – “The copy on your website should tell a story about you, even though it’s not actually about you. It’s about your visitors, and you should speak to them accordingly.”

David Berkowitz
THE AGELESS AGE – “The more that conversations are digitized and the more accessible they are through search and discovery, the longer their shelf life. Conversations can continue years after they begin, with participants incorporating disparate forms of content that were previously unconnected.”

Susan Bird
HERE’S TO CAPITAL C CONVERSATION – “So what makes a conversation great as opposed to anything less? I believe it’s that the participants come to such a conversation with the intent to be changed by it. They come prepared to listen in a way that will reveal a perspective, an insight, a fact that eluded them until now. This is conversation with a capital C.”

Mark Blair
SPEAKING THROUGH ACTION – “Think of yourself as an anthropologist. Your goal is to understand the dynamics at work in your community. Make it a habit to look beneath the conversations to try and deduce the feelings that underpin them. What motivates these people? What are they passionate about?”

Toby Bloomberg
TECHNOLOGY IS RE-CREATING BUSINESS INTIMACIES – “Through funny little websites called blogs companies began to engage with their customers in people-to-people conversations. Those conversations occurred not with the marketing, PR, tech support “departments” but with people within those departments who shared common interests and passions. The exchange was richer, deeper and more satisfying relationships for both customer and company.”

David Brazeal
CONVERSATION AND THE CRUMBLING WALL BETWEEN JOURNALISM AND PR – “If you’re doing PR without doing journalism, you’re missing a wonderful opportunity to use creative, credible storytelling to earn the trust of the people you want to engage.”

Becky Carroll
CONVERSATIONS AND THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE – “A key part of managing each conversation is to understand the customer lifecycle. We need to look at ourselves through the eyes of the customer. Do they need to buy something? Are they already a customer? Are they referring others to us? Are they considering leaving us? The conversation should change depending on the customer’s perspective and combined experiences.”

Katie Chatfield
BRANDED COMMUNITAINMENT – “The brand’s role is to host a get-together. Swing open your doors, send out the invitations, arrange the entertainment and prompt the guests to provide the conversation. Invest in your most engaged consumers.”

Tony D. Clark
BREVITY AND LEVITY – KEY SPICES IN THE CONVERSATION SOUP – “Aside from deep or emotional talks, conversations with lightness and concise sharing of ideas tend to stick with us the most. We gain the key ideas and remember the person we talked to.”

Emily Clasper
COMMUNICATING OUR WAY TO USER-CENTERED LIBRARY SERVICE – “Librarians and other service-oriented professionals must stop viewing communication with our customers as a top-down, broadcast press-release model. We need to stop talking to patrons and begin talking with them.”

Tom Clifford
“LET’S SEE THAT AGAIN!” – “Are people talking about your corporate video? Does it make them think differently? Feel a certain way? Move them to act?”

Mack Collier
BREAKING MARKETING BARRIERS FROM THE TOP OF A HARLEY – “Willie knows that he could spend thousands of dollars on marketing research and surveys that would be designed to tell him more about Harley-Davidson’s customers. Or he could simply hit the open highway with fellow Harley owners, and become a part of their community.”

Peter Corbett
USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO DEEPEN BRAND ENGAGEMENT – “Ultimately, our user forward-able, mash-able, comment-able, rate-able, embed-able branded content will navigate the social media pool, and eventually deliver better informed, better engaged customers who are open to ongoing dialog.”

Chris Corrigan
ART OF CONVERSATIONS – “The web invites us to notice the power of connection and it challenges us to do something with that connection, to extend it back into real world conversation using the age old tools of making a difference — speaking from the heart and listening for understanding to propel real change and deep transformation in our world.”

Ed Cotton
SEVEN WAYS TO START A CONVERSATION WITH ADVERTISING – “Advertising as we once knew it is fast becoming a relic. The only way back is for the ad industry to grab some humility and learn the art of conversation.”

Luc Debaisieux
THE DAWN OF SHARED CONSCIOUSNESS – “Now what if one day … the “anonymous mass” would become “inter-connected individuals” with the ability to share their ideas on a worldwide scale?”

Geert Desager
BRING THE LOVE BACK – “‘“The conversation is already going on’, said Shel Israel, when asked about what brands should do within the blogosphere….”

Rishi Desai
FACILITATE BETTER LEARNING BY BREAKING THE CYCLE – “As the curator of the conversation, you are seeking to learn from the players involved. But also, you are seeking to further facilitate and massage the conversation forward with hopes to gain maximum insight.”

Pete Deutschman
REVELATION FROM A DIGITAL JUNKIE’S DIGITAL DIARY – “At the end of the day, I asked myself, as I did the teens, ‘what do you remember?’. Not surprisingly…very little with the exception of what was most creative.”

Matt Dickman
TECHNOLOGY IS THE THREAD THAT BINDS CONVERSATION – “Technology is allowing new voices in non-traditional locations to emerge and have influence. This is not publishing as usual. This is not business as usual. It’s time to redefine usual.”